Monday, March 31, 2014

Spring Sprinkles NOTD and China Glaze Gelaze First Impressions

So...have you seen these limited edition Peeps?

I am OBSESSED. Of course, I don't actually like Peeps, so it's all aesthetics to me. I could stare at these all day. So when I stopped by Sally Beauty the other day and my eyes landed a Gelish polish called "Lots of Dots", my mind went "Peep!"

LoD is a clear coat sprinkled liberally with small multicolored dots (to my eye, I see red, coral, blue, yellow, grassy green, pale pink and and lilac). I knew right away that I wanted to layer it over a white creme base, a'la Peep, and when a Buy One Get One Free sign called my attention to China Glaze's new gel polish, Geláze, it was a done deal. I grabbed White on White and Shocking Pink and headed out the door.

The potentially cool thing about Gelaze (aside from the fact that it comes in 49 shades, including CG all-stars like Ruby Pumps and For Audrey) is that CG's gel polish offering is a base and color in one- no separate pH bond and foundation step like Gelish. You still need a UV/LED topcoat, and since my Sally's was out of the Gelaze one, my first run was a mishmash of products.

I Used:
Base (2 coats): China Glaze Gelaze in White on White
Accent (2 coats): Gelish in Lots of Dots
Top Coat: Gelish Top it Off
Cured under a 36 Watt UV Lamp

And here are my results:

Pretty darn cute, I must say. Now obviously, Lots of Dots is, well...dots. The end result is a bit closer to a vanilla cupcake than my coveted flaky Peeps, but I was still pleased with the look (and got tons of compliments on it).

As far as performance, I don't feel comfortable giving a definitive yay or nay on the products just yet. I'm far from an expert in my application technique, which can have a big impact on the performance of gel polish. As I mentioned before, I also mixed and matched lines, and while I've seen plenty gel-polish of connoisseurs say that's no big, I don't want to judge a line based on a "not used as recommended" experience.

Here's what I will say: First, application was a breeze- no different to me than a regular polish. I was a bit discouraged when I noticed the polish shrinking away from the free-edge after curing (and again, while I'm no pro, I do cap my tips as well as I can). I also experienced quite a bit of wrinkling, though I tried my darndest to keep my coats thin. Luckily, the wrinkling pretty much disappeared once I layered on 2 coats of Dots, so I didn't have to remove & start from scratch.

Shrinkage on tips of middle finger and thumb. Wrinkling on thumb, ring, and index fingers.

I was also very bummed to have one nail lift just a day after I did my manicure. I removed and reapplied the offending nail, but unfortunately, by the end of day two, I noticed another nail coming up. Three days in, almost all of the nails were lifting at the free edge, and by day four, I had to remove the entire manicure.

Like I said, these are just my first impressions. I am hoping human error can explain away the issues I had, and am currently testing out a few other shades. I also plan on grabbing the Gelaze Top Coat as soon as I can to see if that makes a difference.

Until then, I'd love to hear what you think about gel polishes- have you made the jump yet? What are your favorite brands (and do you mix and match systems?) OH- and does anyone know of a multicolored flaky polish that will get me closer to my Peep-esque objective?!

Thanks for checking, Ana- you're a dear! You know where to find me on Twitter if you ever run across one (and, of course, you can always comment here!)

Anon, thanks for the info- I assume you mean that the 5 colors you used were all Gelaze? If so, I guess it's nice to know that it wasn't just me. I'd love to know which gel brand is your favorite for at-home use!

And I Am...?

Homebase is Cincinnati, OH, and yes, I'm proud to be an Ohio girl! I love the fact that there's a Saks and Tiffany & Co. downtown, but I can drive 15 minutes and see a cornfield! I've been a makeup artist and skin care buff for almost 20 years, in just about every realm of the business you can be in- I've worked retail, managed & trained for major companies, done makeup for theatre, advertising, weddings; you name it! I'm married to the love of my life, soul mate, high-school sweetheart, life partner and other half, Brad, and we have an incredible 7-year-old daughter. I spend most of my time raising my baby (girl scout leader, school-helper, crafting and party planner extraordinaire !)